


Have You Seen these Munchkins?

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [26]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Coran takes the kids to a park, Fluff, Gen, Panic, and he is a bad babysitter, kiddie paladins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:24:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9644270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: Coran is trusted with the little babies, including Keith, and Shiro can only pray that he can handle them for a couple of hours.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "I'm wheezing. Space dad as an actual dad I didn't even know I needed it. If you find the ting and find it in your heart could you hit me up with a Drabble that expands on Coran accidentally losing the kids in the park? I need to read about Shiro freaking out. ILYSM. It's cool too if you don't have the time to write it. :3"

  “Do you have water?”

              “Yes.”

              “And there’s some goldfish in the front pocket of your backpack.”

              “Thank you.”

              “And you remember my cellphone number?”

              “Yes.”

              “Repeat it to me.”

              “Shiro, leave him alone. He’ll be fine!” Coran couldn’t help but laugh as Shiro, tediously worried and fussed over Keith. Keith was standing in front of Shiro with his big backpack, watching Lance chase Hunk around with a toy airplane. Pidge was already deconstructing a Lego car in their hands, while Allura watched everyone in amusement.

              “Shiro, the kids will be fine. Lance, Hunk _and_ Pidge’s family all trust Coran.” Allura smiled and gently set a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. The young father nervously chewed his lip, before straightening the straps on Keith’s backpack one more time. However, upon Keith’s slightly narrowed eyes, Shiro finally huffed a laugh and stood up. He gave Keith’s shoulders a small squeeze and stepped back.

              “You leave Keith at our daycare all the time.”

              “Yeah, with _you_. And Coran and an entire school filled with teachers and adults.” Shiro pointed out with arms crossed over his chest. “I have _not_ left him alone with only Coran, going to a park.” Coran squawked, trying to sound offended but he was no match for the pointed stare sent from Shiro. _Wonder where Keith gets his glares from?_

              “Coran is more than capable of watching four kids for two hours at the park.” Allura comforted. “I promise that Keith will be safe.”

              Shiro still looked wary but eventually he gave in with a sigh and nodded. For a minute, Keith turned his attention to Keith, Lance and Hunk as Lance ran up to Keith. Keith blinked with a small scowl at the close proximity, while Lance smiled.

              “See! Lookie, I lost my tooth yesterday! I was fighting a big, bad Grizzly bear and he was trying to take my mama’s pies! So I had to fight him all by myself.” Lance exclaimed excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Hunk and even Pidge’s eyes widened in awe, but Keith couldn’t look more unimpressed with Lance’s tale if he tried. This caused Shiro to chuckle.

              “Lance, we’ve talked about this. What have I said?” He said with a smile. Lance stopped bouncing to pout and he shoved his arms across his chest, with cheeks puffed out.”

              “That I shouldn’t ez-asperate the truth. ‘Cause it’s just like lying.” Lance grumbled, kicking at the dirt on the ground. Pidge snickered as Shiro shook his head in amusement. Not even a full month after Keith had arrived at Allura’s daycare and these kids already had him wrapped around his fingers. He’d do anything for any friends of Keith’s.

              “Exaggerate. And yes, that’s right.” Shiro corrected and praised before ruffling Lance’s already messy hair. Immediately, Lance brightened up at the praise and beamed towards Shiro. Keith was more or less thankful that Lance was no longer right up against his face.

              “But I really did lose it in a fight!” Lance argued and pointed towards the hole in his bright smile. “Red head-butted me!”

              “Probably ‘cause you were annoying her.” Keith argued, holding onto the straps of his backpack. Shiro’s smile softened at the two.

              “Alright. I’ll be back in two hours. It’s just a quick trip downtown.” Shiro finally sighed, giving Keith one last look. Keith managed to look at his dad before turning to look at the ground.

              “And my meeting will be over a little before that. I will join you then Coran.” Allura shared a pointed look at Coran while Shiro was facing away from them. “Don’t screw this up.” With that, her heels clicked along the sidewalk before she entered the school building.

              “Yes ma’am!” Coran saluted and Shiro managed to walk away and enter his car before driving away.

              Lance sent an annoyed look at Coran, who was merely standing around unsure of what to do next. Pidge grew bored and settled down on a dry spot near the grass, in the shade and began to reconstruct the Legos.

              “Alright kiddos! So, what should we do first? Shall we sit in the grass and discuss the latest reading materials you’ve all acquired? Or perhaps we should simulate ourselves to watch the different shapes and masses of the clouds?” Coran rubbed his chin. Keith and Lance shared a look with one another for a second, both frowning. Hunk nervously played with his fingers, glancing at all the screaming kids surrounding the park.

              “Seriously? B-o-ring.” Lance whined, throwing his head back dramatically. Keith snorted with an amused smile. He stomped his sneakers once and grinned when they lit up. “We’re at a park, old man. Let’s play on the playground!” Lance jumped up and down excitedly and even Hunk caught his energy and grinned excitedly.

              “Old?!” Coran pressed a hand to his heart. “I am _not_ old! I’ll have you know I’m only twenty –”

              “Blah, blah, blah! Let’s play! I bet I’m faster than you, Keith!” Lance ignored Coran’s explanation with a roll of his eyes and a wave of his hands. He could care less what the old, boring adult had to say, when there was a playground. With swings, and slides and teeter-totters.

              “No way!” Keith instantly shouted and soon he and Lance had broken off into sprints, heads low and little legs moving as fast as they could. It took Coran a moment, before his body went into panic mode. Coran began to sprint after the two only to stop, pulling at his orange hair and sprinting back towards where a nervous Hunk was dancing from one foot to another. Pidge barely even spared him a glance, but protested loudly when Coran yanked them into his arms, while simultaneously carrying Hunk (much to Hunk’s awe).

              “Keith! Lance! Hold your horses! Quit running, you could get hurt! _Keith! Lance!”_

x.V.x

              “Alright, kids. How about we play in the sandbox and play a game called, everyone stays put while Uncle Coran rests for a few minutes.” Coran huffed, already out of breath and it had only been thirty minutes since Shiro and Allura left.

              Keith practically threw his backpack to the ground with a pout. Lance frowned but was already two feet in the sandbox, with a reluctant Hunk following behind him. Pidge was already building a two-foot tall castle.

              “No.” Keith pouted. Lance rolled his eyes and handed Hunk a shovel, who happily began to dig a hole beside Pidge’s castle.

              “Keith, kiddo, why not? I’m sure Lance, Hunk and Pidge would let you build some sand castles with them?” Coran tried again but still Keith was firm and not budging from his spot. While Coran was seeing nothing but a stubborn boy ready to start a temper tantrum, the other kids (luckily) were paying more attention.

              “I don’t wanna! I don’t like sand!” Keith continued to argue, not realizing nor caring that his voice was slowly rising in volume.

              “That’s okay Keith. I’m done too.” Pidge was on their feet and out of the sandbox in record time. Coran didn’t even have time to be surprised before Pidge was rubbing the backs of Keith’s hands in a soothing manner. It was a bit comical that the two were almost the same in height. “I don’t like sand between my toes or fingers.”

              “Not anywhere. It feels bad.” Keith muttered, with deep breaths and eyes still narrowed on Coran.

              “Very bad.” Pidge agreed and soon they were leading Keith towards the swings.

              Coran was left with mouth gaping and eyes bulging. Lance snorted.

              “Don’t keep your mouth open. Mama says you’ll eat flies that way.” Lance said as he continued to build his pyramid of sand. Beside him Hunk laughed and Coran huffed.

x.V.x

              Coran didn’t understand how anyone could handle more than one kid.

              Ever.

              “Hunk, no! That’s not food, you cannot eat that!”

              “Lance, do not stick your hands in there! I don’t care if that’s what you do at home!”

              “Keith, oh my god, how did you even get up there?!”

              “Pidge, Pidge, sweetie. Please stay away from the birds. Pidge? Pidge? Pidge, see I told you to stay away!”

              He couldn’t keep up with these fiery balls of energy at this rate. Why, it felt like he’d been watching these _hellions_ for days now (really it had only been an hour). But so far, they had caused more trouble than any of the kids here today.

              Keith managed to lose a shoe (How? Coran was still trying to figure that out).

              Lance was soaked from the waist down after he claimed that he wanted to live as one with the swans in the lake (Coran was so not getting the deposit back on the jacket he wore today).

              Pidge, at one point, was eating a combination of hot sauce, ice cream and pickles, when they had no money.

              Hunk had somehow befriended every little kid younger than himself, and overtook the playground from the older kids and held a throne.

              “Excuse me, can you help me?” Coran nearly cried (but if anyone asked, he would scoff in their face) when someone else tugged at his shirt. Rather than seeing Keith, Lance, Pidge or Hunk, Coran was surprised to see an unfamiliar young girl with her mother by her side. “My balls stuck on the roof.” The girl pointed towards the roof of a Gazebo where a soccer ball was laying.

              “Oh. Of course!”

              “I apologize, but as you can tell, we’re both vertically challenged.” The mother laughed and Coran breathed a sigh of relief. _He needed a break and this was perfect._ As he turned with the girl and the family he looked back to see the kids still playing by the swings together.

              _It couldn’t hurt to look away for a few minutes._

_Just a few minutes._

x.V.x

              _“What do you mean, you lost my baby boy?”_

              Coran wasn’t one to think about how he was going to die. Sure, he had humored the thought, but he was young so he never had any thought about this topic. Although, he didn’t quite expect to die at the hands of an enraged, young father who went a day without a smile.

              However, the man before him, was _not_ Shiro, “The Literal Sun” of dads. This was Takashi Shirogane, “Terrifying Father of Nightmares.”

              Coran felt sweat pour down his back at he looked into the terrifying face, where a black aura was emitting from. Coran could actually see the sun disappearing and being replaced with dark clouds, as the temperature was beginning to drop.

              Coran could actually see the whites of Shiro’s eyes and a vein pulsing in his neck.

              “Ah…”

              “That’s not an answer.” Shiro seethed with an ever so calm volume to his voice. Far too calm. It was calculated and cold. The tone of a soldier who was already calculating Coran’s demise. Never more had Coran felt so afraid.

              “I – I’m sorry Shiro. I – I would appreciate it if you would spare my life just this once.” Coran meekly whispered, ready to get down on his knees to beg for mercy. The aura emitting from Shiro only grew strong and Allura pressed her fingers to her temples.

              “Coran. It hadn’t even been two hours. What happened?” Allura’s tone left no room for arguing and Coran felt his knees growing weak. _They’re both going to kill me. Shiro is going to tear me apart while Allura uses my limbs for batting practice._

“I swear, everything was going okay! The kids were having fun!” Coran began to babble while Shiro’s eye twitched. Allura scowled. “Lance and Keith were racing, and Pidge was building Legos. Then they all played on the playground. Then they went into the sandbox but Keith didn’t want to –”

              “Keith doesn’t enjoy the feeling of sand.” Shiro instantly cut in, causing Coran to whimper.

              “Yes, well they all exhausted their energy and were by the swings, but this woman and her daughter needed me to get a ball down for them – because of my height, you see.” Coran nervously glanced at Shiro and Allura’s expressions and yelped at the darkened looks on their faces. “Of course I couldn’t say no to them, so I did! I swear I only turned my back for two seconds and I wasn’t even out of the playground area! They were just gone! I’m sorry, please, please don’t murder me.”

              “Coran.” Allura growled with a clenched jaw. Quietly, she closed her eyes and took a deep, deep breath. “Alright. The children couldn’t have gone far. You said they’ve only been missing for ten minutes after you called us?” A meek nod was all she received from Coran. “Let’s split up. The kids are intelligent. I highly doubt that they’ve left the park.”

              “Alright.” Shiro spun on his heels and was already ten steps away from Coran and Allura as he cupped his hands over his mouth and began searching. While he was sure he looked menacing towards Coran, on the inside Keith was falling apart and felt like a walking disaster. His heart was beating rapidly and his palms were sweating. Unshed tears were building behind his eyes and his throat was slowly tightening. He couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to Keith.

              To his son.

              “Keith? Lance? Keith? Hunk?” Shiro called, looking behind every tree and in every bush of that park. “Keith? Pidge? Keith?” Shiro’s heart continued to beat faster and faster. _What if they were hurt? What if someone had kidnapped them?_ Too many scenarios ran through Shiro’s head and he could feel himself panicking more and more.

              “Keith?”

              _What if they were cold and hungry?_

“Keith?”

              _What if I never see him again?_

              “Keith?!”

              _What if I don’t get to tuck him in anymore or kiss him goodbye?_

              “Keith?!”

              “Daddy?” Shiro’s heart stopped and he turned around so fast that he had almost slipped on the grass. Shiro’s knees buckled and he almost hit the floor as tears welled up in his eyes, upon seeing a familiar mop of black hair.

              Keith was staring worriedly at his father, with a long piece of cardboard abandoned at his feet. He’d never seen such a look on his father’s face before and Keith did not like it one bit. As he took a step towards his father, Shiro surprised him by pulling him into Shiro’s arms. Shiro buried his face into Keith’s hair while Keith froze in confusion. However, upon feeling the slight tremble in his father’s body, Keith slowly relaxed and wrapped his arms around his father’s neck.

              “Oh Keith. I was so worried.” Shiro whispered hoarsely, treasuring the hug from Keith.

              “You’re silly. You’re always worrying, daddy. Maybe that’s why your hair’s so grey.” Keith mumbled into his father’s neck. Shiro couldn’t help but weakly laugh at Keith. _Trust Keith’s humor to lift me up._

              “Hush you. It’s a dad’s job to worry about their kids. Plus, it’s not grey. It’s white. You just don’t understand fashion.” Shiro laughed.

              “I don’t.” Keith agreed with a nod when Shiro pulled him away. Though, Keith didn’t try to get out of Shiro’s arms or escape as he normally did. He sensed that his father was upset about something and most likely could use some more comfort.

              “Where have you been, young man?”

              “Right here. With Lance, Hunk and Pidge. We were trying to build a robot.” Keith pointed out and it was then that Shiro noticed the other children staring at them. Each had their own oddly shaped piece of cardboard assembled into what looked like legs and an awkward body of a robot.

              “Guys!” Shiro immediately got to one knee, opening his arms wide. “C’mere!” The others didn’t need to be told twice and soon enough, Shiro toppled over with the weight of not one but _four_ little kids in his arms. He laughed loudly and relieved when he landed on his back with a loud thump. Pidge wiggled into one arm while Lance hung around his neck, beside Keith. Hunk beamed from where he was sitting on Shiro’s torso and for a moment, Shiro felt as if he could disappear from all his problems and worries for just a moment. As he looked to his son, Shiro’s heart warmed upon seeing the smile etched in Keith’s face.

_This would always be worth the stress._


End file.
